Cybercom

cyber command

The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), located on Ft. Meade in Maryland, was officially activated in May of 2010. The command is led by National Security Agency Director General Keith B. Alexander.  Elements of the command are responsible for the evolving mission of Computer Network Attack (CNA) – destroying networks and penetrating enemy computers to steal or manipulate data, and taking down command-and-control systems, for example. Some of these capabilities are known as Special Technical Operations (STO).

It has been suggested within the military that the cultures of the Army, Navy and Air Force are fundamentally incompatible with that of cyber warfare, and requires a fourth branch, a cyber-warfare branch. COL John Surdu (chief of staff of the United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command) stated that the three major services are ‘properly positioned to fight kinetic wars, and they value skills such as marksmanship, physical strength, the ability to leap out of airplanes and lead combat units under enemy fire. These skills are irrelevant in cyber warfare.’

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